2023-04-28 11:49:47
The BBC’s chairman Richard Sharp resigned on Friday following an independent report revealed he had breached public appointment rules by failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest in his position over securing a $1 million loan for then British Prime Minister Boris Johnson.
His resignation comes at a time of increasing political scrutiny of the BBC’s situation. Britain’s headlines were dominated last month by a row with sports presenter Gary Lineker over impartiality.
Sharp, a former Goldman Sachs banker who became BBC chief in 2021, has been under pressure since February when a panel of lawmakers said he had made “serious errors of judgment” by failing to announce his participation in the loan.
Sharp said he had accepted a request to stay on until the end of June to give the government time to find a successor to the BBC, which is funded by licensing fees paid by television viewers.
The country’s public appointments watchdog is investigating how the government chose Sharp to head the BBC in 2021.
Specifically, it is investigating whether Sharp made full disclosure of his role in facilitating an £800,000 loan to Johnson prior to his appointment as BBC boss.
The report concluded that while Sharpe violated public appointment law by failing to disclose a potential conflict of interest, this did not necessarily invalidate his appointment.
But Sharp said staying on until the end of his four-year term might distract from the BBC’s “good work”.
“I thought it was right to put the interests of the BBC at the top of my priorities,” he said in a statement. “So this morning I decided to tender my resignation.”
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